Zarya absorbs damage to grow stronger in ‘Heroes of the Storm’

Aleksandra Zaryanova is one of the strongest women in the world. That might not mean much in the Nexus, where you’re basically rubbing elbows with gods and monsters. Fortunately, Zarya, as she likes to be called, is also an exceptional soldier. An exceptional soldier with a portable cannon.

Zarya in 'Heroes of the Storm'. Images: Blizzard Entertainment

Zarya is kind of an oddity. She’s a Ranged Warrior, but she sort of functions like a Support Hero. She can dish out a lot of pain, but can also save lives with shields. She can take a beating, but lacks the tankiness of Warriors such as E.T.C. and Muradin.

As an “Overwatch” Hero, Zarya doesn’t rely on mana. This is awesome, because it means she can cast her Abilities without having to worry about resource depletion (you still have those pesky cooldowns to deal with, though). It’s a pity she can’t attack and move simultaneously like Tracer – that would have made her so much scarier.

In “Heroes of the Storm,” Zarya is a medium-difficulty Hero with one Trait, three Primary Abilities, and two Heroics.

Energy (Trait, passive)

Instead of mana, Zarya uses Energy to power her attacks. And we’re not talking about carbs here; Energy is a renewable resource unique to Zarya. The higher her Energy, the more damage she deals.

So how does she raise her Energy? By using her shields. Every time a shield receives 10 damage, her Energy goes up 1 point. Her damage increases 2% per point. So you can imagine how deadly she can be at maximum Energy.

Energy doesn’t last forever, of course. After half a second, Zarya loses 3 Energy points a second. It’s therefore integral to Zarya’s strategy to keep those shields up as frequently as possible.

Another reason why it’s in Zarya’s best interests to maintain high Energy levels is her mediocre Basic Attack damage. For such an imposing giant of a weapon, the Particle Cannon at 0 Energy doesn’t hurt nearly as much as you think it would.

Zarya’s Talents augment her Trait by allowing her to gain Energy from Regen Globes; increasing the width of her gun’s beam; boosting the Energy gained by her shields; improving the toughness of her shields, and more.

Particle Grenade (Q)

Zarya lobs a Particle Grenade at a chosen spot. Enemies caught in the blast suffer 62 damage. Particle Grenade deals 50% less damage to structures.

Particle Grenade’s cooldown is 8 seconds, but because Zarya can store up to 4 charges at a time, she can pretty much spam this Ability for increased pressure. It’s good at clearing minion waves, and works well as a zoning Ability.

Talents can boost Particle Grenade’s effectiveness. For example, you can enhance its damage, or give it the extra ability to slow down enemies.Personal Barrier (W)

With Personal Barrier, Zarya cocoons herself in a 3-second shield that absorbs 560 damage.

Because the damage absorbed by the shield raises Zarya’s Energy, Personal Barrier is extremely important.

Personal Barrier isn’t the best shield in “Heroes of the Storm.” It deteriorates fairly quickly, especially if your enemies focus their attacks on Zarya. This means she won’t be able to lead the charge quite like Johanna or E.T.C. can. And with a 10-second cooldown, you won’t be able to depend on it as often as you’d like. So if you don’t want to waste your shield, you’ll have to use it with precision.

For reasons explained above, Personal Barrier doesn’t completely make up for Zarya’s lack of mobility. A well-timed shield can still save her life, however.

Fortunately, you can improve Personal Barrier by picking Talents that allow it to absorb more damage, deal damage to enemies, and grant a Spell Shield or the Unstoppable status, among others.

Shield Ally (E)

Zarya grants a shield to an allied Hero, allowing them to absorb 420 damage for 3 seconds.

As Shield Ally also converts damage to Energy, it’s just as important as Personal Barrier. It comes with similar pros and cons, but grants slightly weaker protection with a longer 12-second cooldown.

Shield Ally-related Talents are extremely interesting though, and can effectively turn Zarya into a quasi-Support Hero. There’s one that increases the affected ally’s Movement Speed, another that allows Zarya to grant shields to two allies, and one that cleanses the ally of disabling effects. There’s even a quest-type Talent that can permanently increase the shield’s damage absorption properties and decrease its cooldown by 3 seconds.

The Level 1 Talent Together We Are Strong also converts the damage dealt by the shielded ally into Energy – the perfect pick if you’re aiming for consistently high Energy.

Graviton Surge (R1)

Zarya hurls a gravity bomb at a chosen location. After 1 second, it explodes to pull nearby enemy Heroes towards its center, where they’ll flail helplessly for 2.5 seconds.

Like her other Abilities, Graviton Surge has its downsides. It doesn’t do any damage, and its 100-second cooldown is monstrous.

Still, it’s an excellent crowd control tool, and is particularly lethal if you manage to suck in several Heroes simultaneously. So, for the best results, use it on your enemies when they’re bunched closely together.

The Level 20 Talent Gravity Kills gives the Heroic a considerable damage bonus.

Expulsion Zone (R2)

The opposite of Graviton Surge, Expulsion Zone creates a circular area that repels enemies that attempts to enter it. This area lasts for 3.5 seconds, and deals 124 damage. Enemies who are knocked back also suffer a 1-second 50% reduction in their Movement Speed.

This Heroic is great if your aim is to create chokepoints. You can also use it to deny enemies from specific areas. For example, if the enemy team is about to seize a boss, use Expulsion Zone to kick them out of the area, then steal the boss for yourselves.

The Level 20 Talent Clear Out increases the radius of Expulsion Zone, and even boosts Zarya’s maximum Energy.

No pain, no gain

Zarya’s whole shtick is absorbing damage to become more powerful. While this means it would help to keep your shields up as frequently as possible, make sure not to be too reckless when deploying your Personal Barrier or Shield Ally. The shields, after all, are impossible not to notice. Smart enemies will simply avoid attacking you or your shielded ally.

With slightly lower health than other Warriors, and a frail shield burdened with a long cooldown, Zarya is far from unstoppable. So avoid rushing headlong into fights if you’re not prepared. Remember that she’s a Ranged Warrior; she doesn’t have to get too close to an enemy to deal damage.

Lastly, her Basic Attack pierces through enemies. This allows Zarya to hurt several enemies at the same time with a single beam from her Particle Cannon. For maximum destructiveness, charge your Energy to the max, and make sure to position Zarya so that there’s a line of enemies between her and her target before attacking.

Defender of Russia

Zarya may not be the tankiest Warrior in “Heroes of the Storm,” but with the timely use of her shields, she has every potential to be one of the most powerful. Those same shields have the additional benefit of preventing needless fatalities, while her grenades and gravity-based Heroics make for valuable zoning and crowd control options. All these make for a Hero with surprising utility, so that in the right hands, she has the capacity to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Nexus’ best.

Zarya is now available for purchase in “Heroes of the Storm.” — BM, GMA News